CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- A team from
New Jersey hopes its path to Florida runs through Iowa.

No, the Farrah Builders Scout Team
did not take a wrong turn in Jersey and end up in the midwest by mistake. They
came to Iowa this weekend to compete in the Kernels Foundation Championship,
with an eye on winning the title here and earning an automatic spot in the WWBA
World Championship that will be held in Jupiter, Fla., in late October.

They're just two victories away.

Farrah Builders spanked Longshot
Baseball-Teal, 12-0, in four innings in the quarterfinals Sunday night at
Perfect Game Field and will play in the semifinals Monday morning against the
St. Louis Gamers or Ann Arbor Travelers.

Frank Montalvo, the skipper of
Farrah Builders, has taken a pair of teams to Jupiter for the World
Championship over the years. He'd love to go again.

"I feel the squad I have this
year deserves to go," he said Sunday. "I hope they get a shot."

All 40 teams in the Kernels
Foundation Championship had to battle wet, soggy conditions in Iowa during the
weekend and Perfect Game had to modify the format due to rain, but the
tournament is on track to finish Monday afternoon.

The Kansas City Bullets nipped the
St. Louis Pirates, 1-0, in another quarterfinal Sunday night and will face
either Cangelosi Silver or the Reds Midwest Scout Team in the other semifinal
Monday morning.

Montalvo has 15 players on his
roster this weekend, and they took different paths to get here. Some of them
flew from Newark to Chicago to Cedar Rapids, and others flew from
Philadelphia to Minneapolis to Cedar Rapids. Some did neither.

"We had four kids drive,"
said Montalvo. "That was a 13-hour ride."

They hope to make it pay off today.

"It's a good bunch of
kids," said Montalvo. "They're having fun, and they're loose right
now."

Farrah Builders went 3-0 in Pool
Play with a 6-4 victory over Minnesota Blizzard Blue, a 14-0 triumph over Sioux
Empire, and a 4-2 win over the Giants Scout Team '11. They've outscored their
four opponents, 36-6, heading into the semifinals.

Most of Farrah's players are from
New Jersey, but they brought a good hitter from Staten Island, N.Y., on the
trip and they're glad they did. Kevin Krause, a senior at Tottenville High
School, has been the team's leading batter so far.

"He's just been mashing the
ball all weekend," said Montalvo. "If we win it all and he doesn't
get MVP, something is wrong. He's been our RBI guy."

Krause, listed at 6-foot-1, 175
pounds, hit a home run at Perfect Game Field on Saturday.